The Danger of Youth Populism

We have millions of disgruntled, under-employed, not-married-or-settled under-35’s in this nation.

Prediction-making is a risky business. Nevertheless, here I go: The next wave of American populism will be oriented towards youth. Bernie Sanders may be a part of it, or perhaps not. Either way, this new movement will present itself as a warm, springy wind, sweeping away its geriatric predecessor and embracing a bright, wrinkle-free future.

Donald Trump’s personality cult appealed to anxious and nostalgic older Americans. He was an older-generation icon with an unapologetically backward-looking message. Let’s make America great “again.” Smash multiculturalism and the “cult of PC.” Bring back our jobs.

Four months into Trump’s presidency, Americans are already exhausted by the never-ending uproar and the obvious, transparent lies. Sometime soon, a gust of new wind will sweep away the stale air of Trumpism, and millions will stand by and cheer. Who will create that gust? I suspect it will be the young.

Some might ask: haven’t we done youth populism quite recently? The cult of Barack Obama had plenty of youthful faces to be sure. Obama’s platform, though, was fairly staid by contemporary populist standards. His promises were vague, and his follow-through was lackluster. Bernie Sanders made far more interesting promises: free college, free health care, massive wealth redistribution. Sanders caught a bit of the Occupy Wall Street ethos, giving a foretaste of what may come. A real American youth movement could leave “hope and change” looking like an adorable paper tiger.

Having made this prediction, I would now like to work towards proving myself wrong. Youth populism could get dangerous and crazy. Let’s head it off before it happens.

There are plenty of reasons to worry about young adults today. Many obviously prefer unhealthy activities (like rioting) to healthy ones (likemarrying one another). They are having trouble finding steady jobs, paying college loans, and positioning themselves to start families. Conservatives typically respond by preaching responsibility and solid bourgeoisie values. “Yes, millennials, it’s a bruising world, but when the going gets tough, the tough focus on making good life choices. Work hard! Stop whining! Get back to us about your financial woes when you’ve stopped drinking those five-dollar lattes.”

Most of this advice is good as far as it goes. For particular young people eyeing incipient adulthood, it might be helpful to consult Charles Murray’sGuide to Getting Ahead, or one ofmany excellent columns that no-nonsense conservative writers have offered on this subject. As these writers acknowledge, there’s no foolproof formula for a happy life. Some methods clearly work better than others, however. Live frugally, develop some discipline, and keep yourself healthy. That’s a best-odds life plan that will probablyserve you well.

As sensible as that may sound, however, I doubt it will be sufficient to forestall the coming radicalism. Modest expectations and good life choices can help almost anyone, which is why conservatives have spent years extolling their charms. Have other disgruntled, marginalized groups been appeased by this steady diet of curmudgeonly straight talk? It’s hard to see why the young should be any different.

If you want to break out in a cold sweat, consider that we have literally millions of disgruntled, under-employed, not-married-or-settled under-35’s in this nation, many of whom have found adulthood to be a bruising disappointment. Angsty, unemployed youngsters have in every age been likely instigators of political unrest, and stiff-upper-lip platitudes are unlikely to defuse this problem. It’s possiblethat pornography, addictive substances, and glowing screens will settle it by wooing the young into the sterile-but-bearable existence of state-supported lotus-eaters. We shouldn’t count on that, though. Unless we can generate a more satisfying alternative, there’s a very real chance that our disappointed juniors will eventually get organized and start demanding their pound of flesh.

When that day comes, dreadful things may be said and done. If I were nownearing retirement, I would be extremely concerned, especially about the retaliation the young might devise once the Baby Boomers start dwindling (thus losing their ability to vote their interests to the top of the national agenda). Before we reach that point, however, this much at least should be said for our disgruntled young. Previous generations really have dropped the ball in a significant way. We forgot to plan a future for them.

Our nation has been trapped in a nostalgic funk for years. During the Obama years, the political right briefly flirted with pension and entitlement reform. Fairly soon we gave up on that and returned to the old status quo of running up large debts and leaving them to future generations. Today, the left and the right both chatter a great deal about jobs, but their focus is mainly on stabilizing a labor model that caters more to the already-established. Minimum wage, industrial policy and the like may save some heartache for the long-employed, but they aren’t the answer to our building jobs crisis. Economists know this, but Trumpian populists don’t seem interested. Expect tomorrow’s sprightlier and fresher-faced populists to discuss this at great length.

Fiscal sustainability is only one part of the problem though. On cultural fronts too, our political parties seem frozen in a defensive crouch. Their diagnoses differ, but almost no one is optimistic about the long-term prospects of our civic culture. Most social and political commentators devote considerable time to casting blame,making harrowing predictions, andsnatching at whatever shreds we still hope to save. How can young people plan for their futures, when no one seems confident that there will be any?

When the old dispense life advice to the young, they typically emphasize the benefits of delayed gratification. Work hard and live modestly! Shun debauchery and special-snowflake fantasies! Discipline and sacrifice are ostensibly the high road to a bright future.

The good news is that millennials still seem radically unsure about what they want. There might still be time to persuade them. Isn’t it worth a shot?

We need to talk more about policy ideas that might reassure young people that they still have a future. Already, there are a number of ideas on the table that might plausibly fit the bill such as child tax credits and efforts tostimulate a “gig economy.” Why are these ideas promising? Each one responds to unsustainable features of our present economy, labor market, or demographic situation. Older voters warm to nostalgic themes, but younger voters have different interests. They need to hear that our social and economic malaise is not truly terminal.They want leaders with an ability and willingness to reckon with past mistakes. They want to hear how theirchildren can also have a future.

Many of the aforementioned policy ideas will seem too radical or disruptive to present Republican leaders. Today’s Republicans clearly don’t see see the young as a top voting priority. Our calculations might be different, though, if we consider how a youth-driven, populist movement might affect our national politics. It’s always better to get the cool heads working before the hot ones take the stage.

Youthful energy can be a wonderful thing. Without proper guidance, though, it can also wreak terrible havoc. Let’s give age and wisdom a chance, before it’s too late.

Rachel Lu is a Senior Contributor at The Federalist and a Robert Novak Fellow.

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40 Responses to The Danger of Youth Populism

“During the Obama years, the political right briefly flirted with pension and entitlement reform. Fairly soon we gave up on that and returned to the old status quo of running up large debts and leaving them to future generations.” The only flirtation was the perennial plan to privatise everything at the behest of Wall Street.
The Republicans couldn’t even draft a replacement for the ACA in almost 7 years! Youth rightly see conservatives conserving power for the elite rather than universal principles and values.
The side that actually provides improved standards of living, not just plans and promises, will carry the under-35 vote. I note how even young Republicans in office still propose failed-polices.
Thank you –

They are trying to destroy the Trump presidency with distraction. If they succeed, turn out the lights, it’s all over.
The density of lies and misdirection in paragraphs 2 and 3 by Lu is breathtaking. A rational person, with finite time cannot read further.

Good article, although short on specifics about the causes and solutions. When Boomers preach “self reliance” it’s without a sense of what sort of realities that Boomers actually aged into. Boomers benefited from the mid-century strong labor economy, when labor unions had tacit government support and corporations has more or less made their peace with their existence, given the lack of alternative labor options. Which brings us to the major difference in the economy Boomers grew up and the one Millennials are facing: the lack of “free trade” deals and immigration programs that cheapened and eliminated thousands of jobs while making the ones here more tenuous and less valuable. Businesses also were more oriented to a labor union delivered “social compact” of pensions and other benefits that are eroding or gone already. Older Boomers are retiring with pensions + 401(k) while Millennials will have 401(k) only – if they’re lucky, and if they’re even luckier one matched by their employer. Education costs as well, Boomers often brag about how they paid for their college education while working summers, so Millennials should quit whining about loans and costs. But Boomers had state universities and schools that were still largely tax payer subsidized and therefore paid a fraction of the individual costs, which is a large reason why a year of school could be paid for by a summer job. There are other factors as well for higher ed costs, another one that Boomers could enter into a company at entry-level and receive company training for higher positions without college degrees. Today, since almost all employers require 4 year degrees for jobs above “fry cook” that reality is almost unimaginable for many, as corporations expect prete a porte workers while being responsible for none of their education or training, and if this is not deliverable they bring in immigrant labor to fill the gaps rather than assist in training our workforce.

What really turns the screw though is that it mainly the Boomer generation that worked to upend these “ladders” of support, while bragging on their self reliance and fortitude. It was largely Boomers (and many Silents) that bought into the “allure” of Milton Freidman’s economics – despite their very own lived experiences otherwise –
and began to dismantle the system that created their prosperity. Boomers were literally handed a New Deal era economy of unprecedented balance between capital and labor, and with government to society, with the largest growth of middle class living standards the world have ever seen, and they turned around and voted it away for Reaganism and the relative pittance of tax cuts they were awarded in exchange for the increasing burdens of out of pocket costs to make up the difference when it comes to higher ed, as well as the degradation of the social compact that has seen the tail end of their generation and the ones after struggling with high health care costs and increasingly tenuous job and retirement security.

These are the reasons why “stiff upper lip-ism” from Boomers is reaching a no longer listening youth. They ushered in bad politics, much of it driven over shallow social “culture wars” and reactionary racial politics while they delivered the nation and its economy to the 1%, and the latest insult which is of course Trump.

If Boomers are truly concerned they will drop the lecturing and look back on what made their generation so successful, and realize what a singular event it was, and that it was not some organic outcome of “free markets” but one that was heavily subsidized and supported by government, and what they can now do to deal with the impending future that will feature less work for the population. Much of this will require moving beyond the Reaganism of the Boomer Years and the reflexive anti-government “socialism” boogeymen that endgendered. “Markets” alone are not going to solve these problems, more likely they will exacerbate them instead.

Many historians and economists postulate that FDR’s New Deal was not so much an act of noblesse oblige but a savvy move to stave off the impending Communist movements threatening to reach the US, particularly in the aftermath of the Depression by rounding the edges off of capitalism and eventually producing a government sponsored Middle Class (with a bit of assist from WWII) that would provide the strongest bulwark against such movements that any alternative opposition of force or propaganda could ever provide. Perhaps similar calculations redone for the modern age need to be considered, what is clear is the “status quo” is not going to be sustainable and it will be eliminated by one brand of “populism” versus another, the question is how do we want the result to look like? One of prisons and suppression with a shrinking or shrunk Middle Class cowering the vestiges of the suburbs from the masses right below them (and unassisted by the wealthy that are making their own evacuation strategies and have no intention of including “Middle America” in those so time to give up the fantasy of being One with the Rich), or the one of the Middle Class nirvana remade for the future?

Age and wisdom a chance? It’s that “age and wisdom” that got us into this cluster F* of a damned mess! Why would anybody including an older fart G-xer such as myself even bother?

When I was coming along, they gave us “who moved the Cheese?” Well, whatever Cheese was remaining after the elders “mortgaged” the farm, and completely destroyed whatever their parents built, in favor of McMansions, “Camp”, “Snowbird” homes.

Our future is a small cream of ultra-hard working and talented people providing the only well-paying work not automated out of existence. Hopefully, that small group will, out of noblesse oblige and perhaps pity, allow enough of their wealth to be redistributed that the rest of us don’t live miserable lives.

Large-scale stable, well-paid employment is a luxury for the 20th century.

This is a cogent and well-argued essay alerting us to possible dangers ahead. It should be pointed out how many totalitarian regimes came to power largely through the actions of young people anxious for something different than the same-old, same-old.

However, while I agree with a need for child tax credits – or something like it – that idea of a gig economy scares the bejesus out of me. I’m just not convinced that enough people would have the self-discipline to manage their affairs well in such an environment. And this is particularly worrisome to me because the author of the cited piece bases much of the appeal of the scheme precisely on the less disciplined workers.

The student debt crisis is unsolvable outside of forgiveness because corporate America will just turn elsewhere for employees. DeVos and her heavy-handedness is only going to make this issue more unbearable. This crisis is one that should not be taken lightly. Futures are at stake. Many will be excluded from the housing market. Forget families. Many will really have nothing much outside a charged up video game controller. Healthcare doesn’t mean much to someone who cannot live with the heavy-handedness of the govt on what little finances they have. The banks/finance companies may have created the Great Depression with poor lending practices, but the push for a College Education from many different sides over the past 25 years has led to a crisis just as bad, but no one wants to bail it out. Wall Street got bailed out, but not the common folk. This generation that is just “eating, drinking, and being merry” can be said to have been foretold.

This set of people are not blind. They have made a few poor decisions just like everyone else, but alot of things are working against them. Maybe some of them set unrealistic expectations? I am not so sure about that though. I think there was a major shift in the economy and thinking somewhere just before this generation “grew-up”. I work with many in this group and see an almost night and day difference between those 40 and over vs the under 40 crowd. That difference is more stark the closer to you get to 30. And the “Me first” garbage came from corporate America and many bought into it. Corporate America is still pushing “Me first.”

“There are plenty of reasons to worry about young adults today. Many obviously prefer unhealthy activities (like rioting) to healthy ones (like marrying one another). They are having trouble finding steady jobs, paying college loans, and positioning themselves to start families.”

When it dawns on Republicans that these are all part of the same thing, they might start looking for solution. But not before.

It seems weird to me, in a country currently dominated by irrationally angry old men, to warn of the coming youth radicals. The young have always been radical, and they’ve rarely spent within their means. The biggest problem with modern society is not the youth being lost in screens or irresponsibility, it’s the older members of society who are doing so.

The young aren’t watching eight hours of cable news a day. The young aren’t running up debts to pay for their entitlement programs. The young are working and trying to make this modern world work for us. It’s the bitter, backwards old men who are causing real damage.

Consider climate change. If the worst predictions on climate change are real, literally tens of millions of old Americans will have caused irreparable harm to their children, knowingly, for the sake of a small savings on their energy bills. And this radical self-serving attitude crosses all lines, healthcare, education.

It seems to me the real radicals are the ones who say if we cut taxes we can raise revenue. Or ignore a threat as dire as climate change, because “it’s all a hoax”. That is radical. That is irresponsible. That attitude is the true threat our nation faces, and we will likely only be rid of it when the “Me” generation is in the ground.

Your first few paragraphs are good, but then you start to go off the rails. “You young whippersnappers and your rioting and your five-dollar lattes!” Intentionally or not, you reduce the younger generation to a bunch of angry idiots, which then taints the opinion of readers like myself early on. We know our budget better than you, and the people that don’t won’t be reading this article anyway, so it tends to come across as simplistic and self-righteous. Also, part of our addiction to computer screens comes from the desire to live frugally. Sitting at a computer is much cheaper than going on a vacation, which many can’t afford to do because of the economy.

You are right though about work policies not favoring the young though. I remember my father, a carpenter, constantly telling me to go to college. I did, and upon completing it finding all of the job postings wanting 3 or 5 years. Some even had the audacity to call themselves “entry-level.” Upward mobility is on the decline, and creating new businesses naturally becomes harder as the population increases and economies mature. You have to compete with billion-dollar corporations using offshore manufacturing, and major online retailers with low overhead costs. Not to mention competing for visibility. I don’t think that a gig economy is what you really want though. People buy houses and start families when they feel stable. When you’re worrying about your next job that’s not going to happen. Plus the article names Uber and Lyft as potential gigs, but these companies are investing heavily into self-driving cars so that they can eliminate these gigs. I believe that programs that support apprenticeships and true entry-level careers (not just jobs, *careers*) would be a great starting point.

Already, there are a number of ideas on the table that might plausibly fit the bill such as child tax credits and efforts to stimulate a “gig economy.”

How naive! My guess the Millennials are doing the same exact thing that Generation X in the early 1990s which is putting off marriage and especially kids until they have settled careers. Which makes complete sense in our modern world and these ideas of higher child credit and easier gig economy is not solutions to make working class people more comfortable with having children.

Also Rs AHCA and having a gig economy, young married people can’t afford to have kids. To raise a family you need a steady job and health insurance.

Youth with political power is scary. We must enable more info war, fair and balanced coverage in social media venues. Otherwise youth will go beyond just wanting entitlement for themselves, and begin to erode our entitlements. Think of the disastrous consequences of allowing government to be in charge of our medicare. What would hillary have done? Be thankful that we cannot know, but we can surmise that more political power for the upcoming generations would mean less security for us.
Hold on, my favorite show is coming back on. Episode 99 of 199. That ranger sure knows what needs to be done about the drug addled queer transgender black muslim mexican youth threatening our western christian civilization. We need to know what to do when the snowflakes attack with all their leftist hatred. Que walker texas ranger theme song, sponsored today by grandma balancing on her spin mop. She got 2 for one and only had to pay a small extra fee for shipping.
Youth populism is a scary idea. Like, kanye west for president? OMG! Of course he might have to register to vote before running, but that won’t stop the ongoing invasion by the youth of indeterminate sex. And don’t forget, they will be coming after your assault weapons. The humanity! Todays softball game has been sponsored by, wait a minute. We can’t let them sponsor this game after what just happened can we? Oh, that’s right. Every assault weapon attack is followed by enormous sales increase. Can we mention the weapon without sounding too, well, the way we sound. And to answer smarti-cat from above, the boomers are not going to realize or even recognize anything calling on their responsibility, while the growing conflict in this country seems likely to shatter into feudalism if youth cannot join in some political movement not dependent on grandpa’s like bernie and biden. Time to grow up girls and boys, or whatevers. The answer to a king you don’t like is not another king you do.

Which is why I’m very much in favor of progressive tax rates, unions, pensions, and all those actions that lead to greater stability.

To the rich: either pay now with higher taxes to keep the system stable–or pay later when there’s a revolution and you end up getting shoved up against a wall and shot together with your family. Take your pick.

“4 Reasons Globalism Won’t Retreat Anytime Soon — Peering through the murk, what we see in our current political memes about globalism is a noisy celebration of half-truths and half-baked ideas.” (Oct. 13, 2016)

Gig economy just means you don’t get health insurance, holiday pay or a 401k. You think *that* is going to help young people feel like they have a future? Like they could have kids or get married? You think all the 50-something white people drinking themselves to death aren’t probably a better indication of where we are headed?

One prime example of pulling up the ladder is housing policy. Specifically the constant desire to use public policy to incentivize homes as investment vehicles that continually rise in value. That helps banks, and retirees that have paid off their homes but high home prices are awful for young adults.

Yes, Ronnie, we have to prop up the economic and political system built around W-2 earners. No place in our system for the self-employed, they’re just trouble-makers, aren’t they? Yep, we’ve gotta preserve the status quo! For the young people, of course.

Fran Macadam, were you being sarcastic or do you really believe that a gig economy would be beneficial? I can’t tell from your post, but based on your previous posts, I would guess the former.

SmartiCat, I agree with you in large part. However, the shortage of labor in the 50s and 60s – and hence the high demand for it – may explain much of that era’s favorability towards taxes, labor unions, and like. Conversely, our glutted labor markets may explain much of our attitude. That’s why it’s dangerous to compare one period with another, as conditions are never quite the same.

Grumpy realist, you’re being grumpy but not especially realistic about this upcoming war you foresee. Just ask yourself: who has the military and the police on their side?

Bushwhacker, you make an excellent point. And given Ms. Lu’s article on outsourcing, she’d quite possibly favor more such taking of our youth’s birthright. (In fairness, I haven’t read it yet.)

Ronnie, glad I have you and others on my side on the gig economy!

Ted, you seem a little too angry yourself to rightfully complain of others who are. And just who are these angry old men, and how do they keep getting themselves elected or appointed to positions of power?

@cdugga
Great post and snark 😉 With respects though to the notion that Millennials (and X’ers – myself one) view him as a “king” in the sense that Trump voters naively bought into Donnie’s “only I can fix it” message is inaccurate. Sanders has repeatedly campaigned and lectured that the “movement” cannot be accomplished through him alone, or through a singular President, or even through a national Congressional majority, but that the “movement” requires local and state politics and involvements at each election. We are learning the hard way about the dangers of focusing on celebrity candidates and POTUS-only races.

With regards to whether Boomers will “learn”, it may only come at the expense of their own interests. Which is why I’m tentatively standing back on the passage of some form of the Republican AHCA, given that it will largely punish older voters, many of which have pre-existing conditions, along with of course scores of lower income Republican voters currently dependent on Medicaid that they did not (or did?) was extended to them via the hated Obamacare. Not that I rejoice in any suffering, but there’s some wisdom to the theory of the “shot in the arm” therapy that may hopefully shock some of these voters into sense about the economic trade offs of Republican voting…

I’m not sure the gig economy is going to work for young people. Working from 9 am to 11 am and then sitting around wageless until you get another gig from 6 pm to 8 pm isn’t really any way to afford a family.

Wait until they all turn on us (Boomers) when the proverbial “fit hits the shan” as we’re expecting them to take care of us in our old folks home or hospice care when they have virtually nothing as we did.

Just ask Ted above. There is already a burgeoning group with an attitude of blame focused directly in our direction. Been reading it in Comments sections for at least 5 years.

I am quite disappointed in the tenor of this article. There was excellent opportunity to expand upon the severe lack of work fulfilment which folk aged 25-35 experience. Real wages have been declining while student debt costs have risen exponentially. The notion that millenials can ‘work harder’ to make their way out of this terrible situation is farcical. Instead, the author pointed to the old, tired, accusations.

Of course the benefits given to Baby Boomers will be severely curtailed as more and more younger folk begin to vote.

But time will tell. As for me, I have left the US and moved to Norway. Better pay, vastly superior quality of life, less political correctness, more family centered society, all lend towards the likelihood that I will stay.

But time will tell. As for me, I have left the US and moved to Norway. Better pay, vastly superior quality of life, less political correctness, more family centered society, all lend towards the likelihood that I will stay.

Do tell more. What industry? How did you choose Norway? What is your family situation?

Yes I agree you can’t really compare the eras, my point was actually that a lot of the “sage advice” from Boomers to Millennials (and X’ers, the Great Forgotten) about hard work and personal responsibility is guilty of doing exactly that, comparing the modern economy to the one that Boomers grew up into. Boomers inherited an economy and political system that was largely devoted towards creating and supporting a thriving middle class, which Boomers were instrumental in later helping to dismantle while still riding on the coattails of those benefits and claiming otherwise. The glut in labor we’ve experienced is one born of both “natural” economic changes such as automation and increasing global markets, but it’s also been policy choices as to how we’ve dealt with that. The phenomenon of offshoring labor was not inevitable but a fact of policy that encouraged this practice, as are the taxation and expenditure policies that overwhelmingly favor wealthier and selected sectors of the economy. How we deal with the future of retirement security and other issues will also be policy choices, but if Boomers think they can demand that future generations honor the current arrangement while they vote for politicians and policies that do the opposite in return then they are in for a rude surprise as the emerging generations begin voting in significant enough numbers to tip the scales, among other “conversations” that will begin to demanded to be had.

” How we deal with the future of retirement security and other issues will also be policy choices, but if Boomers think they can demand that future generations honor the current arrangement while they vote for politicians and policies that do the opposite in return then they are in for a rude surprise as the emerging generations begin voting in significant enough numbers to tip the scales, among other “conversations” that will begin to demanded to be had.”

I think the most salient point here is the reference to managing the forces that impact the country’s economy. Nothing is inevitable and the inevitable is manageable.

Hint, the country belongs to its citizens. Illegal immigration, outsourcing, the negative consequences of automation nor anything else (aside from natural disaster — and even then) is neither inevitable, nor unmanageable.

Emphasising Federalism and more Main Street economics is clearly the answer. The US Constitution provides the clearest model for the diversity needed for prosperity, our states. Every non-conservative youth I know has no respect for or understanding of the Constitution or basic history for that matter. An example of this is the Left thinking the popular vote has a place in a presidential election or that Obama signing the Paris Agreement without Senate approval is binding. Besides the federal government drowning us in problems those that promote globalism and multinational corporations that focus on global supply chains and foreign subcontracting are literally further burdening people with more economic problems at home and riskier foreign policy issues abroad. The same people that want to slash defense spending are buying Apple products made in China and that business is helping fund a growing Chinese military which could one day wish to push its authoritarian ideology by force outside of its borders. Those same people despise capitalism but love consumerism and they also love improving technology but want to redistribute the concentrated wealth needed to perform essential r&d to those that consume the goods produced by these same tech giants. There is so much wrong with our current political and economic environments that its tiresome. You did mention backwards nostalgia for Trump economics but I have to disagree with that on some accounts because I don’t think he’s trying to promote coal or manufacturing on the long term but rather to have it return so it can dwindle naturally if it has no market rather than by the sword of government regulation or trade policy, this is only my opinion however and I have no evidence to support it but my reasoning is that my family once harvested and sold Ice from the 20’s to 50’s and as the market started to dwindle they adapted new ways to earn an income rather than being out of work with no time to make adjustments. I apply this example to a lot of situations like health care, start with basic coverage that encourages health monitoring and preventative measures and from there build on this platform as people, the health field, and insurance companies adjust to the changes. But tomorrows youth populism would probably focus on rapid and radical policies because they should no patience for our very slow paced representative democracy. So I’ll end with saying that you are better off reading the Constitution and other documents than watching the news because only one of them is actually aiming at insuring your freedom and promoting your wellbeing. Our future will be no different from our past or our present for at every moment freedom is under siege by human nature and it’s tendency for tyranny. Government is but a necessary evil and that is why it must be constrained with checks and balances and other safeguards.

Fully agree. But if you listen to the rhetoric of the “smart people” in economics and politics, phenomenons like free trade and the resultant offshoring and other labor arbitrage is just that, inevitable. Or other events like the 2008 Wall Street crash, events that are “inevitable” or part of the “business cycle” like the weather and Nature Itself.

Of course this is not true. These events are the result of policy decisions, and the aftermath of these events are also policy decisions. We can observe how different nations have dealt with these “phenomena” with varying results beyond ours which obviously destroys the notion of the “inevitability” of the American experience.

Government is a tool, as are various economic practices such as capitalism and socialism. Tools are tools, and sometimes “tools” are answers to specific problems. A successful handyman keeps a range of tools in his box, rather than trying to bang on every problem with his favored screwdriver. A lesson many of more right wing politicians in particular could learn from.

The reason I mention government as a potential solution, read: “answer” to the emerging labor availability issues is because it almost has to be, if we’re to expect to maintain a somewhat “modern” economy, current population levels and living standards. The markets are geared towards reducing labor, or making it as cheap as possible. The only alternative is for government to step in, either by taxing the profits from automation and offshoring and directing those towards “make work” projects for much needed infrastructure and services not readily offered by “markets” (an attractive option), or by instituting various labor laws for job sharing programs, shorter work weeks (same pay), UBI to supplement low wages, etc. If we’re to maintain our current societal and economic standards the relationship of work and wages is going to need to change, and concessions from the rentiers and capitalists will be required to maintain their operations well beyond what the current Democratic Party is capable of proposing, much less beyond what the current Republican Party views as ruinous “soshalism”. Alternatively, we radically restructure society down to small “micro-societies” but that almost surely requires a reduced population and radical alternatives to energy and transportation sources that would allow that work.

Now consider how our current oligarchy views either option and retains itself as an ever present obstacle towards moving towards more sustainable long term solutions, even when the long term solutions may play better for the oligarchy at expense of its short term interests. And no one should be fooled that Donald Trump will make any progress in any direction other than to sow the seeds for making this much harder when the eventuality happens, as he has demonstrated all willingness to sign onto whatever the oligarchy demands as the price for keeping his.. whatever it is Donny actually is seeking here… protection of his brand?

“Government is a tool, as are various economic practices such as capitalism and socialism. Tools are tools, and sometimes “tools” are answers to specific problems.”

Capitalism as tool . . . hmmmmm . . . not akin to government. They are two very different animals. I would agree given the very structure of socialism and communism that are constructs of intertwining money distribution via government mechanisms. Capitalism does not work that way. Nor should it be so advanced. What instances of foul play that are often pointed as capitalism’s failure are not really the result of capitalism. Any time there is foul play, it;s a clear sign of a violation of capitalisms core principle — fair and honest dealings. That demand of professional integrity is heavy and I agree dependent on the ethos of the players. The role of government is for the purposes of ensuring fair play and honest dealings. Should they be violated — there are consequences. I agree that government’s role in of late has been on the side of major financiers and businesses, providing unfair advantage. That is not capitalism.

The most effective mechanism is the ability of a thriving capitalist economy which has repeatedly demonstrated to provide the most liquidity to the most people.

Now l’est we run in circles, I do not advocate that there is no need for government. Nor have I met any conservative who does. But your suggestion that the american experience is destroyed via other nations is just off the rails, in looking at the data. A nation the size and diverse as the US in but a few hundred years to surpass by standard across the board a standard of living that even our poor by contrast are provided home and hearth — is the very environment that has millions clamoring to get here or finagling a means to borrow and or steal from it. And they are willing to violate, basic rules to do so. Trying to make the success of the US a failure – is rebutted by the data. And furthermore, the tactic of pointing to flaws in the hopes of generalizing it to the country – fails. And I say that without ignoring class, identity and color issues, including slavery, treatment of native american, etc.
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I voted for Pres Trump with my eyes wide open. I knew that he was not a traditional conservative. I knew his views about color and history were as void of actual data as most others in politics, especially whites. I knew that on christian ethos and scripture we are light years apart. I also know that he communication style was going to problematic.

However, his policies on immigration, reigning corporate welfare, protecting the rights of US citizens to disagree, re-examining our monetary policy internally and externally were going to be crucial in changing direction. The management that you so desire to effect positive shifts away from complete oligarchy are better with Pres Trump than the alternative candidate. While not in agreement on every point, his course is correct, even if a tad wobbly. It is a departure in every way from the elite revolving door we were on. I think his desire for service is sincere. I am concerned that his cabinate choices don’t serve the agenda he laid out.

And his comments about the poor and the economy, while I fully understood what he meant — had me in conniptions until about 3AM. As always, it passes and get back to the job at hand. And that is re-examining the US with our citizens in mind first and foremost. The fact that he may see me as a poor person, but a moron or incapable of grasping basic economic principles because I am poor is not unique to him — but it reflects a sentiment of nearly everyone in positions of power and wealth. It’s just out in the open as it is. What he intends to do open up the system against rampant abuse is the question, not his traditional elite views of people like me.

I have no intention of abandoning him because of very distorted hurt feelings of others and I don’t discount those feelings. But feelings alone don’t reflect reality nor are the primary means for developing policy, nor should they be.

Capitalism, nothing better. And nothing comes close. Note: attempting to compare the US to requires a lot more than the clarion call to

“Ohh lookie, they have healthcare for everybody why don’t we?”

The truth is we do and we provide. The best way to make it affordable is the issue. And wile examining everybody else’s system, it might be a good idea to consider costs and consequences.

What I don’t understand about the “youth’s complaint” is that Pres Trump in multiple ways is on board with your concerns and agendas, even more than Pres Trump would agree to my own. I actually voted for a Pres who is most like you. And that took some real thinking through.

So I think we agree that government could do a better job. We disagree on method, and extent. Listen to what he actually advocates as opposed to how.

On the economic front in general. I would that we had been honest. That what the investment community did with respect to making a dollar is going to be painful. but it is going to be painful across the board up and down.

And it is correctable, and manageable, if we don’t panic. The leadership during the crisis was hardly honest or revealing. Accountability should have occurred. I think you will find that Pres Trump is going ask one simple question — if the people do this – what will they get in return and here are the consequences should you fail to meet your end.

The answer is not in exporting employment or importing cheap labor — for example.